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Swarovski ruggedness?


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I am about to buy a swarovski  1-6 scope,  but i have a few concearns.The scope is pretty damn expensive , but have heard they only come with  a 7 year warranty,  is this something to worry about? Is there more then 1 reticle choice? Is the swaro, really that much better then the vortex razor? I am using a vortex  strike eagle  now, but I just ordered a jp 15 upper, so now my optics are the weak link in my AR.I have been out of the 3 gun game since 2006, so i am way out of the loop on the new must have  items.

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It's a fantastic scope, but it's not $1k better than the Razor. Personally I would get the Razor, but you won't be displeased with the Swarovski by any stretch. They stopped making the 1-6x because their 1-8x is coming out. A lot of people still want the 1-6 though, so if you buy it and don't like it, you can probably sell it for close to what you paid for it.


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I wouldn't worry about Swaro and their warranty, they take care of the costumer pretty well.  As far as the scope, I feel the extra cost is worth it, but only you can determine if its worth it to you or not. The 1-6 has not been discontinued and the 1-8 has been out for a while, take a look at that one also. Its a couple of hundred more.

 

Good luck!

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On 3/24/2017 at 7:08 PM, waxman said:

I am about to buy a swarovski  1-6 scope,  but i have a few concearns.The scope is pretty damn expensive , but have heard they only come with  a 7 year warranty,  is this something to worry about? Is there more then 1 reticle choice? Is the swaro, really that much better then the vortex razor? I am using a vortex  strike eagle  now, but I just ordered a jp 15 upper, so now my optics are the weak link in my AR.I have been out of the 3 gun game since 2006, so i am way out of the loop on the new must have  items.

I wouldn't worry about the warranty. It's not as generous as the Vortex. But you should be dialed. The best shooter I know said the vortex does 90% of what the swaro does. If you can swing the cost, I say go for it. Durability is the only thing the Razor has over the swaro.

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Thank you for the responces.I think I may  wait for a razor 1-8.I  am using  a vortex  1-6 strike eagle now.I am not going to buy another optic until  it would be clearer and more powerful  than what I have.

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Thank you for the responces.I think I may  wait for a razor 1-8.I  am using  a vortex  1-6 strike eagle now.I am not going to buy another optic until  it would be clearer and more powerful  than what I have.


You may be waiting until 2018 for a 1-8 Razor. I was listening to a podcast w/a guy from Vortex and he said there was no plan to update the Razor this year. That looks like the case since they are coming out with a 1-8 Strike Eagle soon and the 1-6 Viper PST gen 2 in the spring.

Both the Swarovski and the Razor will be a massive step up from the Strike Eagle. Don't get hung up on magnification, glass quality is way more important. A good 1-6 will outshoot a crappy 1-8 all day long.

I used to shoot with a Strike Eagle and got rid of it because the reticle is so thick that the holdover lines completely covered the targets at anything beyond 250.

Switched to a Steiner P4Xi and even though it's only a 4x, i shoot much better at distance because the reticle is finer (looks like the Razors reticle with a daylight bright red dot center) and the glass is much better.


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On 3/24/2017 at 6:23 PM, Huch said:

It's a fantastic scope, but it's not $1k better than the Razor. Personally I would get the Razor, but you won't be displeased with the Swarovski by any stretch. They stopped making the 1-6x because their 1-8x is coming out. A lot of people still want the 1-6 though, so if you buy it and don't like it, you can probably sell it for close to what you paid for it.


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I have both scopes and while I like my Razor I like the Swaro better overall. It weighs a lot less and the magnification ring is far easier. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Swarovski is 10% or so better then any other scope out there in just about every specification you can think of.  It also has the brightest dot and a top 1 or 2 best reticle.  Its up to your wallet to determine if that extra 10% is worth $1000 more than a Razor.  I own three of them and a razor and I don't find myself choosing the razor over the Swarovski.

 

The Swarovski is not rugged.  It's meant to ride around in a padded case on a safari somewhere not be ditched into trash cans all day.  I've broken a magnification ring and know several other guys that have broken one.  They all got fixed but they ship them back to Europe to do so.  So it's not overnight turnaround.

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I don't know what the Razor was meant for, but they are heavy and built like a tank.  I got to see a photo of a CIA operator's issued .308 rifle a couple weeks ago and a 1x6 Razor was sitting on it........and they can afford to buy whatever optic they want.

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Thank you guys very much for your insight..When I left 3 gun the Meopta 1-4 was  the cool scope to have  , and its now opsolete I don't want to pay $1500+ for a optic this will be old news in a year or so.It sounds like the 1-6 swaro will not be made anymore,  so I am not sure I want to buy a discontinued  model.The 1-8 swaro is crazy expensive.I guess  I am pretty much left with the razor 1-6.

I  wish vortex would just come out with  a razor 1-8 .

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I used a Razor for a couple of seasons. The weight is a bit of a drawback but it certainly stands up to the beatings. I wish more companies stood beyond their products the way that Vortex does. 

That said, I am using a z8i this season and it feels like cheating. The definition for those long range targets is something that just has to be experienced. 

Edited by alma
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  • 1 month later...

I am also looking at the Z6i and Z8i. My concern with the 8x is that since it is still a 2nd focal plane scope I would have to go full 8x to use the holdovers and that will reduce my FOV compared to the 6x. That seems like a big trade off for the extra magnification which I don't think I would need within 600yds on 3-gun targets. I'm still new to 3-gun so let me know if I'm off track here. 

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3 hours ago, Crusher42 said:

I am also looking at the Z6i and Z8i. My concern with the 8x is that since it is still a 2nd focal plane scope I would have to go full 8x to use the holdovers and that will reduce my FOV compared to the 6x. That seems like a big trade off for the extra magnification which I don't think I would need within 600yds on 3-gun targets. I'm still new to 3-gun so let me know if I'm off track here. 

But the field of view is so wide at plus 8 that you aren't loosing much with it all the way up. I have been using it at 100 to 250 and it feels like cheating. I wouldn't want to back down to 6 power. 

Also, I zero at 200 so at those closer distance you really aren't using the subtensions anyway. If you really want you can use Strelok to find the subtension values at other magnification levels. 

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Alma, 

 

Do you not find the extra magnification to cause the small movements you make even more distracting on 8x or am I over thinking this?  I really don't want to try to pick a sub-max mag while on the clock or max is where I'm likely to run the optics when out past 200yd, but thanks for the reference.  

 

I'm planning on running my new optic on a SCAR-17s.  Should I be concerned about the Z6i or Z8i on this rifle?  My other choice would be a Razor HD with JM-1 reticule. I know these are far apart on price and I really don't want the added weight of the Razor....

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I moved from a Razor and SIG Tango6. Both were good but I wanted to see the far steel and bit better. I don't find it distracting and the definition on the long range targets is excellent. It's not dramaticly more powerful but would be hard to go back to to 6. I don't think it would be the same if the eye relief wasn't good. 

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On 4/15/2017 at 7:08 AM, waxman said:

Having owned both, Do you think the swaro 1-8 is worth the extra $?How does the reticle work  with your loads?

Yes its worth it. The adjustments are in 1/10 mills which is much better than the 2/10 on the Vortex mil version. Also the throw lever does not take he man to move it.  You can get an external turret for the Swaro that kicks butt. I love mine. Swaro does offer a LEO and military discount. Give them a call or email.

Edited by Alaskapopo
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Why hasn't the Kahles been mentioned?  I picked up the K6i for a really good deal and comparing it to my Razor and my friends Swarz, I think it is the best available.   IMHO

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What i don't understand is on the kahles,  and swaro, none of the reticle subtensions line up with .223 balistics. The razor jm seems much better  for this.What am I missing?

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11 hours ago, waxman said:

What i don't understand is on the kahles,  and swaro, none of the reticle subtensions line up with .223 balistics. The razor jm seems much better  for this.What am I missing?

Swarovski BRT reticle lines up with certain 223 loads.  

Edited by jtielke
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I had the razor for the last 2 years and it's a great scope.  However, as stated earlier it's HEAVY and the magnification takes effort to turn.  The glass on both is superb.  The Swaro wins because I'm blind and I need the extra magnification to see things so I can hit them.  I'll find out how rugged it is because I am not gentle on my gear.  Having said all that, Atibal is a new company and they have their own 1-8 scope.  I've put my hands on it already and I liked it.  The internet seems to compared it favorably to the Razor with the Razor winning in the dot visibility department.  They're also running a trade in program if you email them before you buy the Atibal scope.

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I agree, with this statement,  but at such weird distances. Doesn't it make more sense to know where your rifle hits at 1,2,3,4,5, and 600 yards?Isn't the swaro, something like 286, 419,670, or some other weird  distances?

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